Transcripts For ALJAZAM Listening Post 20150920

Journalism in turkey is more and more dangerous. Thai journalist called in for an attitude adjustment by the military. Has it worked . Understanding the bosnian media landscape, the history that divides and changes today. Sorry doesnt seem to be the hardest word at least not in south africas media. These are tense times in turkey, the southeast seeing the worst violence as the Turkish Military and kurdish separatists battle each other. Entire cities in the southeast have been put under curfew, and for journalists, turkish and kurdish in the southeast and beyond, the situation is nearly impossible. Just in the past week turkish prosecutors started investigating one of the countries media houses, doyle media group, for terrorism propaganda. Three journalists from new york based vice news were arrested for working for a terrorist organization, and then theres a magazine whose offices raided and the opposition banded on charges of insulting the president and making terrorism propaganda. All comms as turkeyened to the general election. Fitting the a j. P. And the Prime Minister against the opposition, notably the kurdish h. D. P. The listening posts correspondent on the battles in turkey fought not just in the southeast between rival groups, but across the media. Our starting point is istanbul. Reporter the president of turkey says his country is under i talk. Attack. Its not just the kurdish fighters, its Foreign Forces and col ab ratives, the media. I dont want all the fuss, i said the same thing, the pressure was ramped up after the june elections. Since then, there has been a series of attacks media. In turkey, anyone that publishes so much as a sentence the government doesnt like, could be accused of colluding with the enemy. People can be impressed for things written on twitter. They are never far away. Right now we are in a struggle against i. S. I. S. And the terrorist organizations, at such times you see the media acting in the national interests. In turkey under the pretext of free speech, media conduct an amiable, they are operating against the companys interests. People create headlines, purely to oppose the leadership, and those people published using supports of the terrorist groups. This does not happen anywhere else in the world. Reporter the heat has been rising steadily between Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the media in turkey. Over the last four years, turkish media saw repeated newsroom raids, multiple arrests. Recep Tayyip Erdogan maintains that turkeys media climate is the envy of the world. That claim is something of a joke in media circles. More so since the general elections in june. Where the a. K. Party saw a loss in votes, and the Kurdish Party came into national prominence. The heat has been turned up after a 3year ceasefire was broken, and violence flared in the southeast between kurdish fighters and the Turkish Military. This is the editor of a weakly news magazine. This past week his office was raided, an editor taken to court and the latest edition banned because of the front cover that had been tweeted the night before. Every sunday at 9 00pm we post the cover of the latest edition on social media. The cover, with Recep Tayyip Erdogan taking a selfy against the backdrop of pa martyrs coffin, he said earlier in the week, that being a martyr was something to find happiness and joy in. People take selfies when they are happy. We were being ironic. The government came to us with terrorism charges which we think is un contrary. Unfair. Recep Tayyip Erdogans assertions that the media had its freedoms is part of a culture, you are less for what you have because it could be worse. When Recep Tayyip Erdogan says its free, hes making ta threat making a threat that he could restrict the media more, if he wants to. The akp Election Strategy focused on nationalist votes. Criticisms from the families of fallen soldiers, martyrs can damage sentiment. The akp wants to silence reports written about dead soldiers and Police Members families, berating the government for their loss. Reporter on september 6th, the offices here, the mass circulation newspaper had protested, claiming a tweet from the paper misquoted the president. An investigation was launched media group. One of the biggest media houses. It owns one paper and part owns another. The investigation came after a story in a progovernment paper, accusing them ever publishing pictures of dead soldiers. The paper referenced the 2014 interview on cnn turk with a woman that later joined the p. K. K. This is a trend in turkey. Media outlets, reports of other news outlets, accusing them of criminal activity. Earlier this month, three journalists were arrested. Two of them, the westerners, became the focus of an hourlong show. While the two were released, the third journalist, an iraqi is still in gaol. Translation we didnt claim that they were i. S. Agents, we highlighted that the world media didnt question. Like how come the vice reports got into strongholds and were welcomed there. Other journalists have been beheaded in raqqa. Person kind of on holiday there. Vice news are doing i. S. Propaganda. Translation during periods of conflict the sharpest edge cuts against those working in the field, especially journalists. Out there theres no one to go to for help. You have two options, run through the bull its and broadcast the news or thing about safety. Translation lately it has become almost impossible to get Accurate Information regarding operations in southeastern turkey, its not that the government opposed it, but more that is been created in which the media is not part of protesting as before. Not all journalists are keeping quiet. The Upcoming Elections are too crucial, and the fighting in the southeast too intense for the media on either side of the divide to sit this one out. All this is it happening because there is an election second. Current government sees it as an existential battle. Until the elections take place, the media will be under attack. Theres a couple of dark months ahead of us. Other media stories on the radar this week in thailand when the military government summons a journalist for a talk, they call it attitude adjustment sessions. In other places it would be called detention without charges. That happened to this journalist. The author of the english an all paper the nation was called by the ruling body, the National Council for peace and order. They had run ins with the government before. This experience was unlike any other. He was blindfolded. Taken to an undisclosed location. Held for two nights. It was clear that any criticism of the military was unacceptable. It was held because he wrote an article because it could cause confusion, misunderstandages and go against efforts to keep government order. A critic of the military coup, and the government. Since his release, he said he will resign from the nation, to ease the pressure on the publication. Last week we reported on the coverage from the syrian crisis, the body of a 3yearold washed up on shore, galvanising the media around the world. The image is at the heart of a media storm over how its been depicted in a cartoon. And how its been depicted by charlie hebdo. Its been lorded as a clever critique and the handling of the crisis, but criticized by others saying the use of the dead childs image is race. , in poor taste and a marketing gimmick. The heir said the group is considering legal action against the magazine for incitement to hate. Charlie hebdo was at the center of a free speech violent storm, the subject of an attack leaving 12 dead. The murder of a journalist has been caught on camera, spark evidence of dangers to the media. On september 10th, a woman was shot in the head entering her radio station. The c c. T. V. Footage is a key piece of evidence for the authorities, announcing a 35,000 reword for information on the killer. In more than 45 of the investigation, there has been no charges, no arrests, and no trials. According to the bogota base free press location, she could have been targetting for reporting of robberies by a criminal gang or the coverage of the run up to the local elections next month. According to the paris based reporters without borders, she is the third journalist to be killed in the country this year. Two decades ago the 3year long war came to an end. 100,000 were killed and a million displaced. In the complicated peace agreement, the date on the accords, 1995, the country was split into two entities. The federation of bosnian herzegovina, administered by bosnians, muslims and croats. And the other, administered by bosnian serbs. Creating a complicated military structure. The split is most evident when it comes to the coverage of unresolved topics like the srebrenica massacre, a violent event of the bosnian war. Ethnic and National Differences are evident. Given the history, its hardly breaking news. The more recent and growing challenge is one that tran cents the ethnic divide. Its political and economic pressures that skew the editorial process and slanting the reporting of a multitude of stories. The story from sarajevo on props regardless of ethnicity or where they are based in the country. Reporter srebrenica, designated bit the United Nations a safe haven in april 1993. It was turned into a burial site in a matter of days, when thousands of muslims, men and boys, were massacred. This past july, tens of thousands of people, along with the worlds media, poured into the site to remember the worst atrocity. Srebrenica is one of those subjects the bosnian media find difficult to cover. The ceasefire declared seems to have done little to affect the coverage on the airways or the newspapers. In bosnia and herzegovina, the war is not over. We have seconded conducting it using weapons, but are conditioning it on other platforms, especially the media. It is reported today the same as 20 years ago. You have the same structure and sound bites. Its tedious, but all these years on, we have not managed to report it differently. Theres progress made in the area. 15 years ago media in the republic would cover only the events where the serbs were the victims, this year, for the first time, everybody, every outlet, newspaper. Every media finally covered srebrenica. Reporter its important to understand exactly who everybody refers to. We interviewed five different journalists for the story. The editorinchief of federal disat television based in state television based in the capital. The editor of a web portal. A journalist and media analyst from sarajevo, and a bosnian serb newspaper agency. Different background, different perspectives on the same story, and with that comes different terminology. The media and republic do not use the word jen side. In the genocide. In the federation its over emphasized. At times it felt like the word genocide is mentioned in every sentence. Whilst it wasnt heard in the republic of srebrenica. Translation reporting it divided along ethnic lines. Given the population, its predominantly made up of muslims, the Media Coverage was thorough, the newspaper covered a 200 page special, with everything related to srebrenica. The media and republic also reported on the event. If you saw the newspaper, we had a black and white front page dedicated exclusively to the event of that day. You have to understand that there are differences between the two entities, the war in bosnia is over. But tensions persist. When it comes to covering the topic, the media has the three groups. Bosnian muslims, serbs and croat are divided. Covering the same stories differently. We spoke to analysts across all three communities, and they say the issues affecting journalists here go beyond the past the the larger problem is the politics of the presence. This is the owner of the widely read newsagency, the president of a Major Political party, and bosnias former security minister, and is an example of an influential figure of one foot in politician. He is a politician. He has a tv, everything. Second example where media is receive many. And what you read in the media. Its literally the politicians of the Biggest Party in that part of the country. Politicians, businessmen called. They sue and exhaust you completely. They do not come to the show. They go to some other media, to give the interview or be into the debate where the journalist is popular ready to make the compromises. Theres the issues, that the politicians like. Its roo similar story, the National Assembly adopted legislation allowing for the public broadcaster to be financed. Contravening the laws that they could be down through taxes. Exposing to editorial manipulation, the cosry relationship is symbol lised for proximity. You have the sit hours on one side, on the other studios of rtrs. It is a typical example of publishing alreadies that supported the ruling party from the the moment of its inception. They became a puppet creating an environment in the economic market. Making it confident for any outlet that criticises. Making it impossible to publish in the first place. I work as an executive editor. We criticize the Counter Party every day. It is our job. As a result of reporting, we face the loss of subscription, advertising and physical threats. The government controlled jobs, employment and peoples lives. The government, born in the aftermath of the bosnian war controlled hungry. A long film for any government to use political stability as an argument for control. The media trots out truism. It doesnt seem to be the case, not at the political level. They learn how to use medium as propaganda. Unfortunately, im not sure that the public learned the lesson from the war, or that they learnt somehow to recognise political propaganda in every organization. Were finally in south africa, president zuma has been having a tough time with the media, in the headline for the wrong reasons using public funds to renovate his public farm, and not arresting president bashir and handing him over to the criminal court. Despite the bad press, zuma is not without sympathizers. The editor of the citizen newspaper, the Popular National daily apologised to zoom afor a sinister agenda in the media, it caused reaction online and off. And another oped, a letter with another apology, this one from alex, a wellknown reporter. If the media are going to apologise, the apology should look like this. See you next time at the listening post. Dear south africa, im score. Sorry that there are not more of us, reporters that dont apologise for doing our job. Im sorry journalists are retrerched as newspapers shut down circulation and titles. Im sorry that newspapers are not comprised of hundreds of us fighting to get on the front page or lead a bulletin with an exclusive story, or what is happening to the media ownership. Sometimes nothing short of intellectual fraud. Sorry that issues like mob justice or xenophobia are not explored more deeply, im sorry that we make mistakes, we do. At times, embarrassing ones. Since we are not rob opts, the things do and will happen. What is most important is how we deal with them and for every mistake there are 100 good pieces that go out. Im sorry we have not been more critical. There are many other areas we should be paying more attention to. Right now. Unlivable wages. You can work very hard and you will remain poor. Whats the cost of harvesting americas food . Do you see how it will be hard to get by on their salary . Yeah fault lines, Al Jazeera Americas hard hitting. Today they will be arrested. Ground breaking. Theyre firing canisters of gas at us. Emmy Award Winning investigative series. Fault lines invisible hands only on Al Jazeera America im ali velshi. Your donations dont always go where you think they do. Were on the money, to expose a system where almost anything goes and even the candidates themselves cant control it. There are still 14 months to go before americans vote for their next president in november of 2016. But the television air waves in some key states are already so inundated with Campaign Commercials you would think the election is happening tomorrow